Disease relevance of daf-7

• To determine the role of TGF-beta signalling in hookworm infection, an ortholog of the C. elegans TGF-beta signalling molecule daf-7 was cloned and characterised [1].

High impact information on daf-7

• Here we demonstrate a role for the daf-7 TGF-beta pathway in the regulation of expression of a subset of chemoreceptor genes in Caenorhabditis elegans [2].
• One daf-4 and one daf-7 allele are suppressed by the amber nonsense suppressor, sup-7(st5) [3].
• Attenuation of daf-2 insulin-like or daf-7 TGFbeta-like signaling pathways cause developmental arrest at the stress resistant and long-lived dauer stage [4].
• The Daf-c phenotype was suppressed by daf-7 cDNA expression or a daf-3 null mutation [5].
• ASI-directed expression of kin-8 cDNA under the daf-7 promoter or expression by a heat shock promoter rescued the dye-filling defect, but not the Daf-c phenotype, of the kin-8 mutant [5].

Biological context of daf-7

• All known mutations in daf-4 (eight alleles) and daf-7 (five alleles) produce a ts dauer-constitutive phenotype [3].
• The RNA level of daf-7 in infective larvae was reduced by larval penetration of host skin or development in the host, but not by a shift to the body temperature of the host [6].
• To investigate this, we cloned daf-7 orthologues from Strongyloides ratti and Parastrongyloides trichosuri and analysed their RNA level by semi-quantitative RT-PCR during the S. ratti and P. trichosuri life cycles and in a range of in vitro and in vivo conditions [6].

Other interactions of daf-7

• Expression of daf-11 cDNA by cell specific promoters suggests that daf-11 acts cell autonomously in ASI chemosensory neurons for daf-7 expression [7].

References